Improvement in amalgamators



J. M. HILL.

Ore Amalgamator.

Patented 1an. 1, 1861.

Inveor W o digg NV PETERS, PhawLthOg-.lphen Wzxhingwn. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JAMES M. HILL, OF ANGELS CAMP, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN AMALGAIVIATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 3l,063, dated January 1, 1861.

which they are mixed in a natural state, andV which device I term a gleaner5 and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the sa me, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specification, said drawing being a side sectional view of my invention.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, Iwill proceed to describe it.

A represents a framing which may be constructed in any suitable way to support the working parts. B is a vertical shaft placed centrally in the framing, and having a bevelwheel, C, secured on it near its lower end, said wheel C gearing into a corresponding wheel, D, which is placed on the inner end of a horizontal shaft, E, to which the drivingpower is applied.

On the upper part of the shaft B just above the top of the framingthere is secured a hub, F, above which there is a vessel or chamber, G, in the form of a semi-ellipsoid. This vessel or chamber forms a vat at the center of a dish-shaped vessel or basin, H, as shown clearly in the drawing. The basin and vat may all be formed in one piece of met-al. Copper would be the preferable material as it readily admits of having its surface amalgamated.V The basin H may be aboutsix feet in diameter, and the vat G may be about six inches deep and six inches in diameter at its upper end. The basin H may be about six -inches deep at its center' exclusive ofthe vat.

The inner surfaces of the basin H and vat G are amalganiated, and the vat G is about half filled with mercury. The machine or device is then ready for operation. If the tailings of a stamping-mill (gold-bearing quartz, for instance) are to be separated, the pulp is allowed to flow into the basin H from a spout about nine inches above the bath and aboutfour inches in diameter. The basin H is rotated, making about twenty revolutions per minute, and the gold amalgam settles to the bottom of the vat on account of its superior gravity, the amalgam being effected by the contact of the gold with the amalgamated surface of the basin4 the excess of mercury also on account of its spheroidal form meets with little or no resistance in its descent to the bath and forms a part of the'same. The light foreign substances of the pulp, however, areheld in suspension by the water aided by the centrifugal force which is generated by the rotation of the basin, and said foreign substances are discharged over the edge of the basin effecting a complete separation ofthe foreign substances from the gold.

I do not claim the employment or use of amalgamated plates or surfaces for the separation of the precious metals from foreign substances; but

What I claim as new, and desire to secure 'by Letters Patent, isy rIhe device herein shown and described for collecting precious metals which I term a gleaner, and which consists of a rotating basin, H, provided with acentral mercuryvat, G, mounted above a driving-shaft,` B, and frame A, the whole constructed and operating as herein set forth, whereby the water, quartz, and other impurities Will be expelled over the edges of the basin by centrifugal force, while the precious metals of superior gravity will fallinto the central mercury-vat, all as specified.

- JAMES M. HILL. Witnesses:

JOHN C. SANBURN, B. R. GooN. 

